Strategy Free Agency Compensation idea

[Vindicater]

So I think we can all agree that the free agency compo scheme is a total s**t show that punishes every team. (due to everyone having to move down the draft order).

So here is my suggestion.

Free agents are kept on a tier list of 1, 2 or 3 depending upon the deal they sign (ideally I would codify these as well by giving them a price value over the length of a contract, for example, any contract over $4m is tier 1, any conttract between $2m and $4m is tier 2 etc.)

The tiers are worth draft points that are deducted from the team signing the free agent and given to the team losing the free agent. These points are taken from their highest draft pick.

Tier 1 = 300points
Tier 2 = 200 points
Tier 3 = 100 points

Here are two examples from different tiers

Dahlhaus was signed as tier 2 free agent by Geelong from Western Bulldogs.

Bulldogs gain 200 points moving their pick 5 to pick 4. (and thus Brisbane from 4 to 5)
Geelong lose 200 points moving their pick 13 to pick 18 (and everyone in between moves up one spot)

and

Lycett was signed as a tier 1 free agent by Port from West Coast

West Coast gain 300 points moving their pick 18 to pick 12 (everyone in between moving down a spot)
Port lose 300 points moving their pick 9 to pick 14 (and everyone in between move up a spot)

What are peoples thoughts as the beginning of an idea?

 

[Wally Walpamur]

Or the AFL could just get rid of free agency compo all together and it would make things a hell of a lot easier. Tough biscuits if you lose a player but overtime the net ins and outs will be about the same for every club.

They should lower the salary cap floor though so poor teams don’t have to overpay their list and accumulate enough cap room to make some big offers.

 

[Ants]

Or the AFL could just get rid of free agency compo all together and it would make things a hell of a lot easier. Tough biscuits if you lose a player but overtime the net ins and outs will be about the same for every club.

They should lower the salary cap floor though so poor teams don’t have to overpay their list and accumulate enough cap room to make some big offers.

what is the logic behind that statement?

Secondly, even if true I suspect it will be cyclical with teams near the top benefiting over weaker teams. Which goes completely against the idea of equalisation.

 

[Wally Walpamur]

what is the logic behind that statement?

Secondly, even if true I suspect it will be cyclical with teams near the top benefiting over weaker teams. Which goes completely against the idea of equalisation.

It’s as you say, clubs’ success usually goes in cycles and as such will be able to attract free agents when they’re up and lost players when they’re down. By lowering the salary cap floor you could hit the draft hard while only paying for example 85% of the cap which would allow still allows you to pay up to 105% for next season, which would let that club use that 20% to make big, front loaded contracts to 2/3 players who might want to move to that club because they can see the potential of that list in the next five years.

IMO Brisbane and North look to have done this well the past couple of seasons and have bought in/are linked to best 22 players from other clubs like Charlie Cameron, Beams, Gaff, Polec, Neale.

 

[Fizzler]

I don’t see why a club should get compensation for a player that has fulfilled their contract. Remove compo all together.

 

[Sir Skid]

So I think we can all agree that the free agency compo scheme is a total s**t show that punishes every team. (due to everyone having to move down the draft order).

So here is my suggestion.

Free agents are kept on a tier list of 1, 2 or 3 depending upon the deal they sign (ideally I would codify these as well by giving them a price value over the length of a contract, for example, any contract over $4m is tier 1, any conttract between $2m and $4m is tier 2 etc.)

The tiers are worth draft points that are deducted from the team signing the free agent and given to the team losing the free agent. These points are taken from their highest draft pick.

Tier 1 = 300points
Tier 2 = 200 points
Tier 3 = 100 points

Here are two examples from different tiers

Dahlhaus was signed as tier 2 free agent by Geelong from Western Bulldogs.

Bulldogs gain 200 points moving their pick 5 to pick 4. (and thus Brisbane from 4 to 5)
Geelong lose 200 points moving their pick 13 to pick 18 (and everyone in between moves up one spot)

and

Lycett was signed as a tier 1 free agent by Port from West Coast

West Coast gain 300 points moving their pick 18 to pick 12 (everyone in between moving down a spot)
Port lose 300 points moving their pick 9 to pick 14 (and everyone in between move up a spot)

What are peoples thoughts as the beginning of an idea?

Someone getting a multi year deal on 300k a year is a lot different to the same amount of years on 1M+ a year. This should be factored in imo.

So far we've almost exclusively seen top 8 teams rape bottom 8 teams of FA's which is the opposite of what it was supposed to achieve..
I think top 4 teams (prelim finalists) should be shut out of gaining FA's from bottom 8 teams.

Every other team penalised in the draft order too seems strange. Eg, Tigers gain Lynch but keep their 1st round draft pick. GC gain pick 3 compo out of it and every other team loses. Essentially last years premiers get a huge free hit. Not sure what the answer is but maybe the team gaining gun FA should pay their worth in draft picks. That is their worth after all.

 

[Hird Is Scum]

End of fourth Rd pick and that's it. The team that loses the player can then replace them via the drafting. It will stop top players leaving s**t clubs for good clubs because clubs will start matching knowing they won't be getting pick 2 anymore.

 

[Thetrader15]

Compo picks to be handed out at the end of each round, so that it doesn't matter where you finish, the loss of the player is equal. We all know then what the picks will be

e.g. Franklin, Lynch, Frawley are all tier 1 - Hawks/GC/Melb would have received pick 19 in their respective years
Dahl, Lycett would be end of rd 2 (i.e. pick 37 if no tier 1 picks that year), regardless of the club.

The tiering should also be based on the total $ value of the contract offered (e.g. 5y/$400k is equal to 2y/$1m) - the club's investment is irrelevant of how long they spread it over.

This will eliminate the following examples
Brian (for example) playing for the Dogs (for example) and is a RFA. Hawthorn (for example) wants to recruit him without trading so they give him a 3 year deal worth $800k (tier 1) so the Dogs get pick 2 as they finished bottom. The Hawks only wanted to pay him $600k/year, so extend his contract as soon as he is signed to $600k/4yrs and get him for nothing, while the Dogs get pick 2....for example...not that that would ever happen

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Your compensation is list/salary cap space

The only reason Richmond can get lynch is because of compensation

Remove the compo and you remove the incentive for weaker clubs to make themselves weaker

If anything highlights it - it is clubs/players manipulating (ripping up) contracts to generate FA compensation

 

[Goodo73]

what is the logic behind that statement?

Secondly, even if true I suspect it will be cyclical with teams near the top benefiting over weaker teams. Which goes completely against the idea of equalisation.

Free agency has nothing to do with equalisation. The former is about the players, the latter is about the clubs.